Hello old friend, it's good to see you wake up from your winter nap. I've missed you during the long winter months.

I'm so happy to see my perennials emerge in the garden each spring, what would happen if I showed them more affection? What about those new additions to the garden? They don't know me. They don't know how much hope I have for them.

Besides all of the good care that we gardeners provide, shall we let our plants know how much we love them? They can't read our minds, so maybe we should be better communicators. Maybe that will make our plants happy. After all, we know Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus... and plants are from Earth.

Prince Charles talks to his plants and, according to him, they respond. The Prince of Wales believes in treating nature with respect and lets his plants know it!

The RHS is now conducting a study to see whether there may be something to his idea of talking to plants. They are holding auditions for voices that are suitable for recording verses from Shakespeare. They will test for results before, during and after the recordings are played to the plants.

For the study, the RHS will attach MP3 headphones to the pots at root level. Hmm... headphones wrapped around a pot is an embrace. If talking makes a plant happy, what about adding a hug, too?